


Someone to You

by curls_of_confidence_26



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sweater Weather - Lumosinlove
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hockey, Oblivious James Potter, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Soft Hockey Boys, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Teasing, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:55:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27607277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curls_of_confidence_26/pseuds/curls_of_confidence_26
Summary: Follows the events of Lumosinlove's Sweater Weather.The Gryffindor Lions discuss the evolution of Cap and Loops' relationship.
Relationships: Leo Knut/Finn O'Hara/Logan Tremblay (lumosinlove), Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 11
Kudos: 70





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Sweater Weather](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20750912) by [lumosinlove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumosinlove/pseuds/lumosinlove). 



> This fic is inspired by, based on and follows Sweater Weather by Lumosinlove. All original characters and events come from her story.  
> You should absolutely read it if you haven't already!

“So tell us Cap, how did your epic love begin?”

The team were gathered at Sirius and Remus’ house for a post league celebration, able to relax and indulge now that the season was over and they no longer had diet plans to stick to.

The Lions had settled into the large living room, taking up all the available seats and covering most of the floor. They had just finished watching the seasons highlights on Sirius’ large TV and were riding high from the excitement of their first cup win together.

The buzzing conversations died down at the question.

"James, we’re not twelve. Nobody wants to listen how I got my crush to like me” Sirius replied, rolling his eyes. 

"Actually, I wouldn’t mind getting to hear how you snagged someone as good looking as Loops” Kasey said, sending a wink in Remus’ direction. 

"Yeah" Finn laughed and shouted across the room, "And I’d like to know how you went from Mr Grumpy to Little Miss Sunshine this season.” Sirius scowled at him while the rest of the team laughed. Talker held out a fist which Finn bumped in return.

"I’d like to hear the story" Lily chimed in, pulling her bent legs towards her and resting her chin on her knees. Remus smiled warmly at her.

"Urgh, do we have to" Regulus groaned from the floor where he was sat next to Leo “I get enough of them, its sickening”. Leo punched his arm. 

Ignoring Regulus’ outburst, James continued, “That’s settled then.”

Sirius sighed and ran his hand through his curly black hair, not knowing where to begin. He felt Loops put his hand on his ankle where it was resting in Remus’ lap, slowing massaging it with his strong fingers. Sirius smiled at him.

“I suppose it started with my recovery," he began. “We worked so hard for months and spent so much time together, it got harder to ignore how I’d been feeling for years”.

“Remus was the only one who was honest with me about my ankle and how it was healing. I phoned him before our team dinner, I was terrified that I wasn’t going to be ready, but he knew exactly what I needed to hear.”

“And then he offered me a ride to dinner. My knight in a shiny Range Rover” Remus chuckled, drawing laughs from some of the boys.

“Ooh ooh yes that’s when I knew something was going on” James exclaimed with a grin and wiggle of his eyebrows.

“Pots” Sirius scoffed as Lily wacked his arm. The rest of the team shook their heads.

“Oh okay okay, but I did notice Cap was suddenly giving rides. He never gives rides! He doesn’t like sharing his car with anybody, even me!” He paused.

“Guess he decided to make an exception.” James raised his eyebrows at his captain, trying to subdue the smile threatening to show.

“Guess so” Sirius smirked back at him.

"After our first loss, I went to find the one person who always knows what to say to me" Sirius wiggled his toes in Remus’ lap, prompting a smile from his boyfriend.

"In his hotel room, how scandalous!” Finn’s interruption was muffled by a cushion thrown by Natalie, who was sitting on the floor between Kasey’s legs, leaning relaxed back into his chest.

Sirius looked at Remus slyly and continued.

“And then he only went and got naked right in front me, nearly gave me a heart attack!” Leo turned to look at his boys with raised eyebrows. James guffawed while Lily giggled into his shoulder.

“Sirius, that is not what happened.” Remus admonished, “I forgot my clothes after my shower”.

“Oh you ‘forgot’ your clothes did you Loops? Nice!” Tremz laughed.

“Don’t worry Fruit Loop” Finn said, grinning, “I do that all the time, right boys?” waggling his eyebrows at the cubs.

Sirius was still grinning as he continued “so we fell asleep and, in the morning…”.

"Sorry, back up.” Kasey interrupted. “You fell asleep? How did you go from Loops being naked to falling asleep... together?! Did something happen?”.

“I wasn’t naked!” Remus shouted half-heartedly, but no one was listening.

“We just watched TV and fell asleep, nothing scandalous happened.”

“Well unless you count spooning” Remus chimed in.

“We absolutely do count spooning!” James exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “I can’t believe we never noticed the sexual tension.”

“Speak for yourself,” Dumo muttered from the sofa next to his captain, “some of us do have eyes mon ami”.

“What is spoon?” Kuny whispered to Nado.


	2. Part 2

“I had to witness, with my own two eyes, Cap inviting Loops to the Halloween party”. Dumo shuddered. “It was excruciating, the awkward shoulder punch and the nervous laughter.” Sirius blushed while James looked at him with wide eyes. 

“Damn, I wish I’d seen that. I don’t think I’ve seen you nervous about flirting before.” he paused, tilting his head to one side “although now I understand why”.

Remus laughed “I have to admit, that was the point where I thought ‘Holy shit THE Sirius Black might actually be flirting with me’”

“Only then?!” Sirius exclaimed.

“Honestly, Remus, you’re nearly as bad as James” Lily sighed as James looked affronted. 

“Merde, I must have been doing a terrible job before” Sirius ducked his head and ran his hand through his hair. Remus flushed at the sight of his bicep straining against the sleeve of his black t-shirt.

“No, no” Remus was quick to reassure him “It was just unbelievable. I couldn’t believe it could be real. After all, I had fancied you since I was 16!” he finished with a wink a Sirius. Sirius laughed, sitting up on his knees to rearrange himself on the sofa. He collapsed into Remus’ side, resting his head on his boyfriends shoulder. 

He sat up again quickly, throwing a mischievous look at his boyfriend. 

“Hey guys, did you know that I’m Loops’ favourite player?” he asked the room with a smirk. Everyone rolled their eyes. 

“Duh Cap, that’s kind of obvious.” Leo responded gesturing in their direction. 

“No before this. He told me at our first team dinner this season, I was his favourite. He even had MY jersey”. There were shouts of protest at this, James and Finn’s particularly   
loud. 

“Loops! I thought you had taste!” 

“I thought using my stick meant something to you Fruit-Loop!”

“Had your jersey?” Lily questioned quietly, after the dramatic objections has died down, smiling at the pair curled up on the sofa. 

“Okay, I still have it” Remus admitted with pink cheeks. 

“And he looks damn good in it too” Sirius leaned up to kiss Remus, who responded enthusiastically, cupping Sirius’ cheek with one hand and tangling his other in Sirius’ hair. Neither of them pulling away. 

“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Regulus drawled as he pushed himself up from the floor. “I’ve seen more than enough of this already. And there is only so much Sirius talk I can cope with before my brain will explode”. 

“Maybe we should take a break from the story.” Lily suggested.

“Yeah I don’t think they’ll be finished anytime soon” Logan commented, wrinkling his nose. While he feigned disgust at his captain’s display of affection, it warmed his heart to see Sirius so happy and comfortable being himself. 

“Would anyone like a drink? Dumo brought some of Celeste’s cake too”. There was a cheer from the Cubs as most of the team moved into the kitchen.   
James hovered at the door, and then lunged forward, picking up a cushion and launching it at his Captain and PT, still absorbed in each other on the sofa. 

“Oi, lovebirds! You’ve got five minutes!” He chucked as he left the room.


	3. Part 3

“You know,” Remus started after they had settled back into the lounge. Following Regulus’ departure, Leo had moved to the sofa to sit on the other side of Logan. Kasey had kicked James off his sofa, stating not for the first time “Net minders do not sit on the floor” as his reasoning. James had sprawled out on the floor, in response, looking up at Cap and Loops like a child at Christmas. 

“Sirius let me in on his tradition before the next game, against the Snakes. He let me have half his sandwich” Loops finished proudly. 

There was some muttering as disbelieving looks passed between the players. 

“Look how that worked out,” Sirius mumbled, “You’ll notice we never did that again” he finished with a smirk. 

“So…did you need some Fruit-Loop comforting after this loss too Cap?” Logan asked with a smirk. 

“Yeah, of course” Sirius sighed “I didn’t stay long though. I freaked myself out. I felt so conflicted. I didn’t feel like I was being fair to Remus.” He turned to face Remus directly. “I couldn’t offer anything; I didn’t even know what I wanted. Well, I knew, I just didn’t think I could have it.”

“I thought that was it then. Especially when you barely said two words to me between then and Halloween.” Remus said quietly. 

“You wouldn’t know it come the party” Dumo said, “watching Sirius fuss and make you drinks was adorable”. The teasing in his eyes was clear for all to see. 

“Again, how did I miss this?” James exclaimed “was I even there? Did this even happen? Or are you just messing with me? Surely there is no way I could have missed all this   
apparent obvious flirting!”

“James, you can be quite oblivious sometimes” Lily soothed. 

“Clearly!” Sirius snorted and James threw a cushion at him.

“I’m sure you couldn’t help the flirting Cap, Loops looked wicked in his ref’s outfit” Kasey piped up with a grin. 

“Yeah, and I’m sure his whistleblowing really got you going!” added Finn with a waggle of his eyebrows. Sirius flipped him off but, not for the first time that evening, a pink blush appeared across his cheeks. 

“I can’t think of anything better than having a tipsy Sirius in a fireman costume make me drinks. It was like a dream come true.” Remus added casually, hoping to ease his boyfriend’s embarrassment. Sirius smirked at him. 

“Nothing better eh? Are you sure about that?” he asked with raised eyebrows. 

“Well, perhaps I can think of a few things.” Remus’ gaze intensified and his voice dropped an octave, “speaking of, I don’t suppose you still have that costume do you?” 

“Eww enough enough, I don’t need to hear this” James interrupted. 

“For once, I am in agreement with pots.” Dumo added. 

“And me!” Regulus’ voice sounded from the kitchen, clearly not as uninterested as me had made out.   
Sirius laughed and moved to continue with the story, but not before turning back to Remus. His intense stare and flushed cheeks held wonderful promises for later.

“Of course I still have it” he whispered with a wink. 

“I found Re in my bedroom later in the party” Sirius began again. 

“Ooh, what were you doing in his room Loops?” James questioned with a suggestive smirk. 

“He was snooping” Sirius answered before Remus had a chance.

“I was looking for a bathroom.” Remus replied rolling his eyes. “I didn’t even know it was your room!”

“Oh yeah, and I was following him” Sirius stated in a matter of fact manner. “All I wanted to do was be alone with him, although I’m not sure what I was planning on doing when I   
managed it”.

“Well, what did you do then? Is this when you finally got together?” Logan asked, desperate to hear how his Captain, and role model, had finally gotten what they had both wanted for so long. 

“Unfortunately for all involved, I don’t think we’re quite there yet” Lily answered with a smile. Everyone looked at her questioningly, and she held up her hands “He’s my best friend, I notice these things.”

“Lily’s right,” Remus sighed, “Sirius called me hot,” someone wolf whistled but Loops continued “and I told him I was gay.” He paused and looked at Sirius, not wanting to give too much information if his captain wasn’t comfortable. Sirius smiled sadly.

“I freaked out again.” 

There was a collective groan from the team. Sirius held up his hands apologetically.

“I did manage to admit that I had fancied Loops for…god knows how long. But I was scared honestly. Scared about my family, the league, you guys.”

“Us!” questioned Finn, a frown on his face. “You can’t believe we would have cared about that.”

“I know it seems stupid now” Sirius replied quietly gesturing at Logan squished between his boys. Logan was shaking his head. 

Leo spoke up gently; he locked eyes with Sirius as if to ensure his words got through.

“You’re our captain, we love you, and we chose you. No matter what. You should have known that Cap, even then.” There were nods of agreement from all around the room, smiles of encouragement from Kuny and Nado, a fist bump from Thomas. Remus pulled Sirius into his side and held him close as Sirius let out a slow breath, moved by the words and support from his team. 

James sat quietly, with a gentle frown on his face. Remus noticed but said nothing; he nudged Sirius and gestured with his eyes at James. Sirius understood immediately and communicated silently with Remus. 

Loops stood up and stretched, “Well I know I need a drink after reliving that emotional moment of my life. Can I get anyone a beer?” There were various noises of agreement as the team moved once again, into the kitchen. Lily put her hand on James’ shoulder and squeezed as she left the room. 

James and Sirius didn’t move. 

“Pots?” Sirius said quietly as he moved to sit on the floor next to best friend. “Are you okay?”

“I’m so sorry.” James whispered his voice unsteady. Sirius frowned, confused.

“What? For what?”

“For not being a good enough friend and teammate” Sirius tried to interrupt but James continued.

“For not making it clear that you could tell me anything. For not letting you know that you can be whoever you are and it would be okay.”

James wiped his sleeve across his face and Sirius realised that he was crying. “I’m sorry for making you think you couldn’t be yourself with me”. 

“James, no.” Sirius soothed. “We’ve done this already. I told you, you didn’t do anything to make me feel that way. It’s just ma famille, you know, and hockey. It’s more complicated than just you and me. But I know you love me, I’ve always known that. My fear just made me forget, d’accord?” He pulled James into a hug and they sat there for several minutes not moving. 

“I’m still so fucking sorry for the girlfriend jokes” James apologised through a laugh, “You should have just punched me.”

“I thought about it,” Sirius replied quickly with a laugh, “honestly Pots, you have no idea how much I wanted to tell you everything. Re is incredible.”

James glowed with pride at his friend, “Good job I asked tonight then isn’t it.” He gave Sirius a shove, just as the rest of the team returned to the comfort of the lounge. 

“Okay, so you both admitted you had feelings but this still wasn’t the point you got together? This is one rollercoaster of a story” James exclaimed, enjoying every minute of the story now, mostly because he had been completely unaware of it all the first time around. 

“Well that explains why you were in such a terrible mood for the rest of the Halloween party”. Blizzard exclaimed. 

“I was not!” countered Sirius, “I was the perfect host all evening”. 

“Oh really”, Dumo questioned “is that why you snapped at Talker for eating the last ghost cupcake?” “or why you refused to join in with tipsy apple bobbing?” interjected Logan.

Sirius let out a huff and flopped back against the cushion, unable to offer any more objections. Remus pulled him into his side.

“I think it’s cute” he whispered into his ear. Sirius smiled and closed his eyes. The team looked on with pride at the sight of their captain so obviously happy and in love.


	4. Part 4

“So when did you two finally sort yourselves out then?” Finn asked. 

“Yeah,” continued Logan “what finally caused the pining to end and the excessive PDA to start” he finished chuckling. 

Remus raised an eyebrow “Like you’re one to talk”. Logan blushed while everyone sniggered “uh no, I didn’t mean..”. He was cut off as Finn pulled him close and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Logan felt Leo’s thumb rubbing soft circles on his thigh. He sighed contentedly “we got there eventually” he whispered, snuggling back into the grasp of his boys. 

James waved his hands impatiently, signalling them to continue. 

“Well,” Remus drawled, “that would be after some interference from Dumo”. 

“What?” Sirius questioned, turning his head to look at his boyfriend. “I don’t know about this, what interference?” Remus raised an eyebrow at Dumo letting him answer Sirius’ question. Sirius turned to face Dumo, silent for a minute. 

“Well I thought you needed a push mon fils, I don’t think I could have taken any more of the pained stares across the locker room. Mon dieu” Pascal shook his head.

“Sometimes all that’s needed is a dinner invitation on a stormy night”. Sirius’ mouth dropped open in shock. 

“Wow Dumo, I’m impressed with your matchmaking skills, very sneaky” Kasey interjected from the floor. The team chuckled.

“So Tremz, was it daddy Dumo that sorted your love life out too?” Thomas asked laughing. 

“No actually,” Logan replied, smiling, “That would be Loops, and Cap I suppose.” The Lions continued teasing the cubs, attention drifting from their captain but Dumo didn’t look away from Sirius, who still hadn’t said anything. 

Sirius was lost in thought. Mind spinning with the memories he has shared with Remus over the past year. His chest swelled with happiness as he thought of Remus’ smile, the one reserved just for him, Remus’ strong hands that took care of him, in more ways than one. He thought of Remus’ laugh filling up his empty house and making it a home. He lost himself in endless perfect nights on the road, with Remus by his side and in his bed. All of it thanks to Dumo’s push. Sirius’ heart stuttered when he considered what he might have missed out on without it. He smiled and his eyes met Dumo’s again. 

“Thank you.” He mouthed. It didn’t seem enough, for all that he had done. But Dumo smiled back at him. He understood. 

“Hang on!” Sirius exclaimed suddenly “The shirt!” Everyone looked at him questioningly, unsure where this thought what going. 

“Did you give Loops that shirt on purpose? Tremz?!” Logan looked confused, not entirely certain what his Captain was talking about and why it was directed at him. 

“That night, we stayed at Dumo’s. You gave us shirts to sleep in.”

“Oh” laughed Lupin, understanding dawning in his eyes “that really did bother, you huh? That’s good to know.” Sirius gave him a hard scowl. 

“Excuse me? Can someone please explain what is going on? What is Cap getting so worked up about?” Finn questioned impatiently, hating to be out of the loop. 

“Lo gave us a couple of his shirts to sleep in. And Loops’, the one he gave Loops... was his jersey. It had Tremz’ name and number on the back.” Sirius frowned, looking deeply unhappy. 

Leo’s eyes widened, a smile creeping across his face as he nodded in understanding. Finn let out a short laugh. 

“Jealous Black?” Logan teased, raising an eyebrow at Sirius before winking at Loops. He threw his head back and laughed as Sirius growled and made to throw something at him. 

“And to answer your question, no, I didn’t give it to him on purpose. In fact, I didn’t pick them out at all. Dumo took them from the laundry.” Logan continued. Sirius turned slowly to face Pascal.

“What can I say, mon fils, I said you needed a push” he shrugged his shoulders, looking unremorseful. 

James interrupted them. “Okay, so Sirius gets jealous and possessive. This is extremely useful information to have” he said with a wicked grin. 

“So Dumo invited you over on a stormy night, got it. Then what happened?” Talker asked. Apparently James wasn’t the only Lion invested in this story anymore. 

“After it became clear we weren’t going to be able to go home in the weather. We stayed in Dumo’s guest room.”

“This was after an evening of longing stares and ‘birthday wishes that need to come true’” Dumo imitated with a cheeky grin. Sirius stuck his tongue out at his older teammate. 

“Mon deiu” Logan sighed “So much from that night makes sense now. Good job I didn’t let Katie join you for a sleepover, eh?”

“Well after the jersey incident,” Remus continued, laughing “we got talking, mainly about Pot’s baby to start with.” James’ whopped, punched the air and then held a hand out to   
receive a high five from Lily. 

“Then I told Re about my birthday wish. That it was him. Mon voeu.” He whispered the last part directly to Remus, who subconsciously touched the face of his watch. This didn’t go unnoticed by Lily who decided to wait and ask later. 

“Annddd?” James prompted, interrupting the private moment. 

“Anndd…” Sirius answered, mimicking James’ tone “he kissed me.” The room erupted with cheers. Fists were punched, cushions were thrown and there were hoots of joy. Remus caught Lily’s eye and shook his head, laughing at the ridiculousness of his team. He was secretly chuffed that they were so happy for Sirius and himself, even after all this time. 

“So the confession was Halloween and the get together was your birthday?” Nat questioned, after the room had calmed down. “So you lasted, what? 3 days before changing your mind? Nice going Cap, knew you couldn’t resist Re for long!” she smirked, earning herself a rude gesture from Sirius.

“Early November” Leo mused, “That was the Raven’s game, we got a shut out.”

“And I scored a hat trick” Sirius reminded them, proudly. "I was in an excellent mood".


	5. Part 5

“Whoop!” Talker shouted suddenly, making everyone jump. Logan jolted so fast he knocked the drink in Finn’s hand all down his front.

“Damn it. Talker!”

“Sorry Fish” Logan muttered apologetically. He was poked in the ribs by Leo. “It’s not a problem Tremz, he’ll just have to take his shirt off!”

“I’m sure we can find a spare one Harz” Remus said as he got up from the sofa.

“Hey Re, bring him the red one with ‘Black 12’ written on the back” Sirius called out. He looked directly at Logan who pouted at his captain.

“Payback’s a bitch” he retorted.

Loops was back in two minutes with a shirt that was not Sirius’.

“I’m saving that one just for me, if that’s alright with you?” he said quietly, Sirius smiled in silent agreement.

“Care to explain yourself Talker?” James asked once everyone was settled back in their seats.

“We made it” he replied “We’ve finally made it to the good stuff. Cap and Loops are together, all is right with the world. I’m ready!” He crossed his long legs, rested his elbows on his knees, with his face in his hands and looked expectantly at his captain, eyebrows raised at Sirius.

“It was amazing, even it being a secret was amazing at first. Especially after that game, going home to Loop’s and just being able to relax. I finally got to kiss him whenever I wanted and hold him and...It was perfect” he finished with a smile. The team smiled in response, unable to stop Sirius’ infectious happiness spreading.

“Anndd?” James prompted. Sirius said nothing but threw a cushion at his face.

“And then, I went home for Thanksgiving.” The team went silent. Smiles dropped from their faces. They understood Sirius’ home life and family and remembered why this time had been a particularly difficult holiday.

“It was shit” Sirius’ stated flatly but he tried to continue positively. “But this time, I had Loops to call after dinner, he distracted me” Sirius’ face flushed at the memory “and I didn’t go to sleep unhappy.”

“And after, you know, Regulus’ interview? None of us could get hold of you” James prompted quietly, not wanting the younger Black to hear from wherever he was in the house.

“After I flew home I went straight to Loops” Sirius admitted. Remus avoided Dumo’s gaze.

“I couldn’t face going home to my empty house and I just needed him. I told you, he always knows what to say to me. He made me Thanksgiving left overs and let me shower. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d just gone home.”

“So you were the one who got hold of him then Loops, I knew it. I knew you were lying to me at practice!” Dumo accused with a gentle smile, attempting to lift the mood.

Remus caught on and turned to James with a smirk.

“And that practice is when Pots tried to rope me into discovering who Sirius’ secret girlfriend was!” The team started laughing and a pink blush spread across James’ cheeks below the rim of his glasses.

“You didn’t!” Sirius clutched his stomach as he doubled over with laughter.

“Honestly James,” Lily sighed, struggling to hide her giggles “you are so blind”.

“Hey!” James held his hands up. “Laugh all you want but in my defence I wasn’t far off!”

“And how do you figure that?” Finn asked through his laughter.

“Well, yes, I got a few things wrong but I was right, he did have someone. He was happier and better than normal after time with his family. Okay, it wasn’t a girl, but still…” James trailed off.

“You’re right,” Kasey laughed “It’s just you asked Loops… his boyfriend”. He spluttered and the rest of the team continued chuckling.

“Oh man, that’s good” Talker sighed, still chuckling. James flopped back against Lily’s legs in defeat.

“Well, while James was puzzling over my mystery girlfriend, I was fully enjoying the experience of having my boyfriend along on roadies” Cap wriggled happily in his seat and stuck his tongue out at James.

Blizzard sighed at that. “Honestly, although I am a little jealous, I don’t know how you don’t get completely distracted. I know I wouldn’t be able to focus if Nat was with me all the time”. He pulled Natalie into his side with an affectionate squeeze.

“I nearly died, like every day.” Loops said a hint of a smile on his face. “Do you know how hard it is for me to watch Sirius without it seeming like I’m looking, even though I’m now allowed to look, because I’m supposed to watching you lot to check for injuries?” The more he spoke, the more worked up Loops seemed to get. “I mean, look at him”.

Most of the team had raised eyebrows and amused smiles at Loops’ outburst. Dumo had a fond expression on his face, as he looked between Remus and Sirius.

Sirius continued, with a tender smile in Remus’ direction. “I mean it’s incredibly distracting of course but it’s amazing to show off and know that Loops’ is watching. Besides, the perks just can’t be beaten. It’s all worth the struggle though when we get back to our room’ Sirius added with a smirk as he kissed Remus gently.

“Hey could you grab me a sweater real quick? It’s getting cold in here!” Remus face softened.

‘‘Of course, Captain” He responded softly as he moved to get off the sofa. Instantly Sirius’ tanned skin flushed as we watched Remus lift himself up off the sofa. The pink tinge across his cheeks didn’t go unnoticed. James wrinkled his nose and shook his head, “Do we even want to know why that nickname produces that reaction?’. Remus left the room with a smirk as the cubs caught on to James’ meaning and started making suggestive faces at each other.

“I bet Cap just loves hockey talk in bed, doesn’t he” Kasey laughed “Giving orders and taking charge”.

“I don’t know Blizz, I reckon Loops could hold his own.” Finn argued with a laugh.” I reckon in bed is the only place Cap’ listens to anyone else!”

“Okay but for real though,” Talker interrupted with a sly smile on his lips “you two ever... you know… at the rink?” He winked at Sirius who smirked in response, no hint of embarrassment.

“Well” Sirius began, leaning forward and raising his eyebrows. He paused, looking around the room. “There was one occasion before the Montreal game where I went to see Re in the Habs’ PT room. I told him I had something bothering me and I wondered if he could take a quick look…”

“Sirius!” Remus shouted suddenly from the hallway, “don’t you dare finish that sentence.” The cubs snickered as Remus walked back into the room a smudge of pink across his cheeks. “I think they get it” he said re-joining Sirius on the sofa and throwing a sweater over his head.

“Let’s just say I played an exceptional game” Sirius finished, laughing as Remus covered his red face with his hands.

“We were just saying Loops,” James piped up. “We reckon Sirius is just as bossy in bed as he is on the ice. Care to confirm or deny?” He held us hand out to Loops’ as though he was holding a microphone.

“Oh yeah, Sirius is all about the Hockey talk. ‘Communicate to score’ isn’t that right baby?” He joked with a wink. Sirius laughed loudly, enjoying Remus’ confidence as he relaxed into the teasing from the team. “Well, sometimes anyway.”

“Sometimes? Please explain!” Talker asked “I am seeing a whole other side to my captain and I am loving it.”

“Agreed” added Finn “So much potential ammunition to get us out of extra skills drills!”

“Well, Sirius can sometimes forget how to speak English” Loops explained with a proud smirk and a rush of colour to his cheeks. There was a series of wolf-whistles and jeering from the team. “Go Loops” someone shouted. Remus laughed but continued.

“And my brain loses the ability to translate French.” Kasey and Talker howled with laughter while Dumo smiled.

“Damn, I hate it when that happens” Finn agreed but Logan snorted. “You can’t translate French normally, let alone in bed” he laughed, sharing a look with Leo. Finn flushed, crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at his boys. 

Sirius’ face was a soft pink from the discussion, but he revelled in the friendly banter that came with being part of a team. While slightly embarrassed, he was thrilled finally that his relationship was included in the teams playful teasing.

“We don’t need words to communicate though, mon loup. I know you and your body well enough” Sirius concluded with a wink at Remus.

“Mon dieu, enough enough”. Dumo wrinkled his nose, no longer willing to listen to another second. But Kasey and Thomas continued, enjoying the discomfort they were causing Dumo and the now permanent blush on Loops and Caps’ faces.

“Okay but Montreal can’t be the only time at the rink, Cap. Come on; give us some details!”

“Yeah” Kasey piped up gesturing at Loops “I mean look at him, how you could possibly resist that after all that time pining?”

Natalie joined in with her boyfriend’s teasing, “I mean he’s no Crosby, but his ass is still pretty great!”

“It’s even better!” Sirius exclaimed indignantly, “pretty great...an insult” he mumbling under his breath drawing laughs from the team.

Leo joined in the teasing “I’m pretty certain that wasn’t the only time Mr ‘I forgot my phone’’’ he said with a pointed look at Loops. If possible, Remus’ face turned redder.

Sirius looked at Loops with a questioning expression. “Family Skate” he muttered under his breath, hoping no-one else had heard. He wasn’t that lucky.

“Family skate!? Mon Dieu Cap!” Logan exclaimed. Sirius grinned shamelessly.

“Family skate is for families, god damn it Sirius!” James shouted, struggling to withhold his laughter.

“Actually, mon ami, you said family skate was for kissing.” Sirius pointed a finger at James with an accusatory glare but a smile across his lips “and we did, lots.”


	6. Part 6

“Boys, can we please get back to the story.” Lily asked. “You’re jumping ahead – we’ll get to family skate”

“Okay, so Cap was happy and sneaking around with Loops during our Canada roadies, and none of us suspected a thing!’ Finn summarized succinctly. Dumo huffed but otherwise stayed quiet.

“Well actually, there was the time Talker walked in”. The team all turned to look at Thomas, eyebrows raised. He looked confused.

“Wha? Me? I walked in? On what? Oh god. When?’ Loops laughed at his confusion while Sirius groaned.

“You didn’t even notice anything” he moaned, with his head in his hands.

Remus explained. “It was the game against the Jet’s, I was looking at Sirius’ lip after his fight” He fought back a smile “Talker walked in and I was perhaps a little closer than was professionally necessary.”

“Meaning he was in-between my legs and we were kissing” Sirius said rolling his eyes. James whistled appreciatively.

“I can’t help it. I love it when you get into fights, it’s sexy. Provided you don’t get too hurt of course” Remus acknowledged.

“Why should that matter when I’ve got you to patch me up afterwards?” Sirius replied with a smile. “It was, however, the closest we’d ever come to being caught. It would have been so easy. If he has walked in a few seconds earlier or we’d been a few seconds slower.” A pained expression crossed his face at the memory. 

“And let me guess,” Leo said. “You freaked out?” Sirius just smiled sheepishly.

“Mon deiu Cap, you’re almost worse than I was!” Logan said, exasperated.

“I know, I know.” Sirius held his hands up in defeat. “But it was all so new, and I wasn’t ready but I was terrified. You know what that’s like”. Logan met his eyes with a sad smile.

“We didn’t have any more shared nights after that.” Loops continued, giving Sirius a minute. “It was too risky, so we stayed apart.”

“And I was miserable. Apart from being scared at being caught out and potentially exposed. I was away from Re, I couldn’t sleep. I felt guilty, like I wasn’t being fair to him. For having to keep it all a secret. I guess it might have affected my game.” He finished apologetically.

“So it’s your fault Sirius was off his game – good going Talker.” James scolded with a smirk. Thomas spluttered in outrage but was unable to form any objection.

“So what were you doing instead on those nights Cap?” Logan asked, “Because I don’t recall you hanging out with us?”

“Yeah actually, that explains why Loops joined us for video games, we were replacement hockey players”. The team laughed as Remus objected. ‘No, not at all’ and Sirius answered Logan’s question with a tight lipped smile.

“Wallowing Tremz, I’m very good at it”.

“By the time we’d gotten to Vancouver I’d had enough of self-pity and I was angry enough at the situation to go and speak to Loops. All I wanted to do was tell everyone and hold his hand and be open. But I was scared that people would stop caring about how good I was at Hockey. I hated how much I cared about that. I told him, I understood if he wanted out.”

There were protests from all around. “Sirius, you idiot!” James exclaimed. Logan cried “Cap! What were you thinking?” Nado shook his head in disbelief while Finn looked at Loops “I assume you told him bollocks to that!”

“More or less, yes” Remus replied with a smile. Lily relaxed back into the sofa.

“Well thank God one of you has some sense.”

“By the time we got to the final game before Christmas, everything was good.” Remus continued.

“I was so excited for to meet Loops’ family.” James looked confused. “You’d already met them?”

“Yeah but that was before! I’d spent weeks convincing Loops to bring his family to Family Skate. I was excited to see him all kitted up and skating with us.” Sirius explained.

“My family arrived the day of the Rangers game and nearly lost their minds when they found out Sirius’ gave me rides to games. And I think my brother might have died when he found out he was invited to your party Dumo!” Loops admitted with a chuckle.

“A party that was supposed to be a surprise.” He turned to mock glare at Sirius who merely shrugged.

“Well, I don’t blame him. My parties are legendary.” Dumo announced proudly.

“Celeste’s food is legendary, you mean?” Logan said with a snort.

“It was the Rangers game that had me wondering if something was going on between you two, you know” Leo commented to the surprise of the Cubs. “I caught Loops looking at Cap during the warm-up with this adorable smile on his face.”

“Watching me warm-up mon loup?” Sirius asked with a grin.

“Always” Remus replied returning the smile.

“I guess we weren’t as secret as we thought after all.” Sirius whispered quietly to Remus, pulling him close to kiss him. “Re sent me the cutest video of Jules celebrating my goal that game, he was adorable, jumping around and going crazy. I watched it so many times”. Sirius grinned widely.

“That’s a surprise to no-one” James commented “We’ve all seen him in the locker room, hanging on your every word. He completely idolizes you, poor kid”. Remus looked at James and started to laugh.

“Oh, shut it Loops” James rolled his eyes but continued at everyone’s questioning looks. “I couldn’t understand why Cap was keen to spending time with Remus’ brother all of a sudden. I thought his sudden interest in kids was due to…”

“A girlfriend?” questioned Sirius with a laugh “Nope, just really wanted my boyfriend’s brother to like me”.

Dumo laughed “I don’t think you ever had anything to worry about mon fils, its clear to everyone that Julian loves you almost as much as Loops does.”

“Almost” Remus reiterated.

“Good, because I love him too.” Sirius pulled Remus in between his legs on the sofa, back resting against his chest. “Almost as much as I love Re”


	7. Part 7

“Jules was so excited for Dumo’s Christmas party, he was getting so annoyed that we were running late” He answered the questioning looks “I think my parents were nervous” Remus laughed.

“Did they know?” James asked “About Cap?”

Remus scoffed as he replied “No, they didn’t even know about me. Sirius’ was the only person I had actually told.” There was a series of ‘awws’ from the room and a ‘cute’ thrown in from Tremz.

“I was waiting for ages for you to arrive” Sirius whined. “It had been so long since we’d been able to be alone together!”

“I know baby, I couldn’t wait either. And seeing you there in that new sweater was practically torture. You were adorable!”

“What? It had been like 2 days!” scoffed James.

“Long enough” Sirius muttered in response. “Anyway, after planning to meet upstairs later, I tried to enjoy the party without getting distracted. Someone’s got to keep this team in check”

“I love spending time with the team outside of work, always makes me feel good being included with you guys. And it was great to see Jules getting involved with the kids” Remus smiled at the room.

“We met upstairs, later on to exchange Christmas presents” Sirius started.

“Oooh, another secret rendezvous in a bedroom. I wonder how many more of those you’ll have?” Kasey questioned with a grin.

Dumo raised his eyebrows. “You really love my guestroom eh boys?” Both Remus and Sirius blushed while Finn threw his head back and laughed.

“Nous sommes désolés” Cap muttered with a smirk threatening “But you practically locked us in there to start with so really you have no one to blame but yourself.” By the time he has finished speaking, his smirk was fully pronounced.

“I guess that partially answers my question” Kasey laughed “Note to self – avoid Dumo’s guest room in future”

“You should have seen the look of them when they emerged on Cup night!” Finn chuckled, “there was absolutely no doubt about what they’d been up to.”

“In my defence, you didn’t see what he’d been wearing!” Sirius held his hands up in mock surrender.

“Nothing?” Logan guessed while James retorted “I’m not sure we’d want to see if your response was to fuck him in Dumo’s guestroom!”

“James!” Lily and Remus exclaimed together causing Pots to burst into laughter.

“He was wearing my jersey James. It had my name and number on it!”

“Sirius…” Loops warned softly, willing him not to continue. Sirius paid no attention.

“And he’d especially brought it with him and stashed it there earlier. It was planned!” Sirius whined at his friend, waving his hands in the air, willing his friend to understand the helplessness of the situation he had found himself in.

“He wasn’t wearing anything else!” he finished desperately, running both hands through his hair.

There were some wolf whistles from the Cubs on the opposite couch. Kasey leaned towards Remus for a fist bump, which went ignored.

“Your life sounds terrible Sirius” James deadpanned.

“Get in there, Loops! I didn’t know you had it in you to be so saucy!” Logan catcalled. Remus’ face was completely covered in a red blush that extended down his neck.

“And in Dumo’s house too!” Talker exclaimed “Brilliant!”

“Remind me never to leave you too unattended in my home again” Dumo teased.

“Thanks for that Pads.” He pouted, frowning at his boyfriend. With a shove, he pushed Sirius off the sofa and stretched out, claiming the seat for himself.

“Can we please get back to Christmas” he begged, rubbing his hands over his face, hoping someone would take pity on him and end his embarrassment. 

Sirius sat up and leant his back against the sofa at the end next to Remus’ head. In an attempt to make up for the humiliation he had caused and earn his place back, he quickly picked up where they had left off.

“It had only been three months since everything between us had started, two months since the first night in Dumo’s house. It was pretty incredible to think about how much had changed in that time, how much happier I felt”.

“We both felt” Remus interrupted as he snaked an arm around Sirius’ chest from where he lay. Sirius smiled, knowing that Re wasn’t entirely angry with him.

“We exchanged gifts, and Sirius promised to kiss me at midnight on New Year’s Eve”.

“What did you give each other?” Lily enquired softly.

“Well you all know what I got” Sirius replied, pulling his number 12 necklace from beneath his jumper. “So that I’ve always got Re with me, wherever we are, whoever we’re playing”. He pulled Remus’ arm tighter around his chest.

“And I bought Re his watch” he tapped the face of Loop’s watch “ _mon voeu_ ”. The French speakers in the room smiled. Finn hated being left out.

“What’s that? Someone tell me? Mon voo?” He pestered, hitting Logan rapidly on the leg.

Logan groaned, “Please stop, your French, c’est atroce!” he shook his head, though everyone saw the smile on his lips.

Leo answered his boyfriend. “It means ‘my wish’ Harz”.

“Aww Cap, I didn’t know you were such a softy!” Logan hushed him.

Sirius smiled and turned his head towards Loops. “I told him I wanted us. That I just needed time. I asked him to wait for me.”

Remus leaned in “And I said he didn’t need to ask, I was always going to wait”. Loops pressed his lips against Sirius’ mouth. The captain sighed and parted his lips, leaning fully into the kiss.

After a minute of soft lazy kissing, Remus tugged on Sirius’ jumper. Wordlessly, Cap pushed himself up off the floor to re-join his boyfriend on the sofa. They continued kissing softly, ignoring everyone else in the room.

“You know,” Leo started quietly “I’m starting to feel very sorry for Regulus.”

“If this is what they’re like with the whole team here, I can’t even think how bad it gets for him!” Finn sniggered.

“Just imagine living with this, all the time!” Logan shuddered, eyes wide.

“I would be annoyed at the rudeness” said James “If they weren’t so damn adorable.”

“Leave them be” whispered Lily, “They deserve it.”


	8. Part 8

The team gave their captain and PT approximately 3 minutes to enjoy themselves on the sofa before James promptly decided that he’d had enough and roped Finn into physically separating their friends.

“God Sirius, can’t you keep your hands to yourself for 2 minutes?” Pads’ lips twitched in amusement as James continued. “Or your mouth? You have company!”

“Non” Sirius pouted “But I suppose the quicker we get to the end, the faster I get Loops to myself” he finished with a smirk. Allons-y!” 

“Well as everyone else is chiming in with when they figured it out, I guess this is my turn. Family skate is when I knew for certain something was going on.” Lily announced with a smile. Remus raised his eyebrows at her.

“And do tell, what happened to make you so certain?” Remus asked.

“Please Re, I’m your best friend. You think I don’t know what you’re thinking and what your faces mean? I saw the way you watched Sirius playing with your brother. I thought it was adorable, and you said as much!” Lily smiled at the pair relaxing on the sofa.

“When Re first skated over I just could help but look at him. Standing there all casual with his pads and skates” Sirius trailed off, with a content hum, closing his eyes.

“The way he controlled the puck and handled his stick was just perfection” he continued after a moment.

Finn snorted and Logan struggled to hold in his laughter at the unintentional innuendo, burrowing his head into Leo’s shoulder. James showed no such restraint.

“Woah Pads, too much information” he exclaimed with a snigger. Sirius just rolled his eyes, focusing instead of the memory of his first skate with Remus.

“It was so hard not to focus all my time with him and Jules. I just wanted everyone to know that he was mine”

Remus turned at looked his boyfriend in the eyes “Next year, baby. We’ll be there together”. James raised his eyes at the term of affection he’d heard a few times now, surprised but pleased to hear it fall so natural from Remus’ lips. Lily‘s heart seemed to visibly swell at the nickname. Sirius simply scrunched up his face with a smile and leaned in for a kiss.

“It was pretty incredible being a part of family skate, really made me feel like I was part of the team” Sirius groaned and rolled his eyes. “Loops…”

“What? You are part of the team” James replied.

“Yeah Fruit-Loop,” Talker added with a smile, “I think you might even be my favourite member of the team!” There was a series of outraged cries from all the players in the room, with one exception. “Mine too, Re” Sirius agreed.

“Enough of this nonsense Remus” Lily cried. “You’ve been a part of this team for a long time!”

“Can we continue with the story now” Natalie asked, “I can’t wait to hear Cap’s thoughts on Loops hockey skills!” Kasey groaned, remembering the pick-up game and Remus laughed at him.

Sirius closed his eyes “When we all gathered on the ice… I didn’t think it was possible but Re looked even better in that Lions jersey. I couldn’t wait to play with him on my team, side by side.”

Dumo chuckled and Sirius frowned at him “Your face Cap! Like a child who didn’t get their own way!”

“You picked him on purpose didn’t you? You picked him to mess with me” Sirius huffed.

“Of course mon fils” Dumo replied simply, “I wanted to see you play against him. I thought it would be funny, and I was right.”

“I have to admit I was surprised at puck drop” Finn piped up, smirking “Loops’ got some muscle on him eh Cap?” Sirius’ eyes narrowed and his face twitched, unable to decide if he was happy at the appreciation for his boyfriend or jealous that someone else was commenting.

“When you floored me after that dodge Loops, I was honestly shook” Finn shook his head in disbelief. The corner of Remus mouth raised in a smirk.

“It was… incredible” Sirius murmured. He ran his hand through his hair.

“You did good Loops!” Logan agreed, “The sudden break against Cap, before the goal, it was unbelievable! And you didn’t even need to look, like what?” He took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair, disbelieving.

“I’ve done a lot of looking” Remus replied with a laugh “I know how Sirius skates. And I don’t need to see him to know when he’s there”.

“urgh, when you slammed into me...Mon deiu, you turned and scored easily like you do it every day and merde Re, that was..” Sirius swallowed heavily and exhaled. He was speechless. He wrapped his arms around Remus’ chest and pulled him close.

“I think we can all see how much it affected the captain.” Finn teased but Sirius ignored him.

“And then,” Sirius continued “Logan and Dumo were hugging you and celebrating and I wanted to do that.” He frowned, a slight pout on his lips.

“Jealousy is a great look on you Cap,” Leo smirked “You’re not very subtle, you know?” Sirius frowned at him but couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face. “You can’t blame me though, I mean, you all saw how good he was”.

There were nods and murmurs of agreement. Sirius turned to his boyfriend “I told you they finally understand how attractive you are!”

“Okay okay, enough with the compliments now, I can’t take anymore.” Remus interrupted. His cheeks had returned to the familiar blush that had been common throughout this evening’s conversation.

“I kind of wish we’d gotten to see your tapes though Loops” James continued wistfully. “I would love to know what other tricks you had up your sleeves that we didn’t get to see”.

Sirius smirked but stayed silent. His expression didn’t go unnoticed by Pots. “Did you watch them anyway?” He asked his captain, “without us? Well that’s not fair”

“Well he clearly didn’t want us all to watch them but I needed to and I get a free pass because I’m his boyfriend” Sirius declared smugly. “And my god it was worth it! He...”

“Did you ask him first?” Lily asked, interrupting him with a raised eyebrow.

“I, no… but…” He turned to look at Remus with a horrified expression crossing his face.

Loops laughed at his expression “It’s okay, it was definitely fine with me after response it got from you”

“Oh thank god, I honestly died at the footage. He’s so fast and sleek and urgh... c’était la perfection”

“I don’t even want to imagine Captain’s response to watching videos of Loops playing hockey” Logan shivered teasingly. Finn snorted and James let out a low chuckle.

“Too late” Remus added calmly “You’ve already seen his reaction”. The team looked at him confused, noticing Sirius’ eyes darken and his jaw tense in anger.

“New Year’s” he said stiffly “That was what we were discussing at New Year’s”.

The room silenced, each member of the team frowned, anger and fury on all of their faces.

“I’m not sure there was much discussion going on by the looks of it Pads.” James teased hesitantly, hoping to improve the mood. The Lions waited to see their Cap’s reaction. Sirius snorted and looked at James.

“Of course there was, just a very intense discussion. It’s my favourite kind! We have lots of discussions don’t we Re?” He started smirking “Everywhere we go; at home, on tour, at the rink, in the gym, in the PT room…”.

“Enough! We’ve heard enough! There’s no need to traumatise the team Cap.” James got out through his laughter.

“I now feel slightly uneasy sitting on this sofa” Harzy chuckled.

“I would” said a low voice from the doorway as Regulus walked back into the room. “Trust me, nowhere is safe!” he smirked as his brother threw a cushion that narrowly missed his head.

“I thought you couldn’t bear to listen anymore?” Sirius asked as Reg sat down with his back against Leo’s sofa.

“Yeah well I’m bored and I didn’t realise the story was going to take this long. Honestly, what were you doing all that time?”

“Freaking out mostly to start with” Leo chimed in. “And then secretly getting it on all over the place apparently”. Logan started laughing.

“Speaking of, we’ve reached my part of the story” Leo declared, “After I was so rudely stopped earlier.” He narrowed his eyes at Lily.

“Careful rookie!” James warned “Don’t start something you won’t win”.

Leo chuckled, and started speaking. “Regulus’ you might want to leave the room again for this.”

The younger black dropped his head into his hands “It can’t possibly be any worse than anything I’ve heard in person, so get on with it”. Leo patted him sympathetically on the shoulder.

“So we were all in the locker room after the pick-up game, when Finn unnecessarily announced he was hitting the showers” He glanced affectionately at his boyfriend, running his hand through his hair from where his arm was resting along the back of the couch.

“I have never seen two heads snap up so quickly at the mention of a shower” he laughed. “Cap was so unsubtle, immediately standing up and trying to hide how turned on his was despite the fact that he was literally licking his lips at the thought.” Sirius ran his hand through his hair, somewhat embarrassed at how obvious he had apparently been. 

“And then two seconds after Cap leaves the room, past the showers, I might add. This guy oh so subtly says ‘Fuck, left my phone on the bench’” Leo mimicked Loop’s voice to the amusement of the others “and follows right after the captain.”

“Yeah go get it Loops” James chirped. Regulus’ only response was a wrinkled nose.

“Well can you blame me?” Sirius objected. “What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t exactly go straight into the showers after watching him stare at me across the face off, have him slam into me and push me against the boards, now could I?”

“And I was particularly excited for Sirius to show me how much he enjoyed watching me skate” Loops said with an uncharacteristic smirk. “and show me he did.”

“Are you enjoying this?” Sirius questioned, “Hearing me embarrass myself in front of the whole team?”

“Immensely” Loops replied simply, stretching his arms along the back of the sofa, resting his head back on the cushion and gazing a Sirius with a soft smile. 

Logan teased “You did look a little flushed when you eventually made it to the showers you know Loops!”

“I had just worked out! Jeez what is it with you people” Remus exclaimed. Sirius laughed openly, his head tilting back and resting on Remus’ arm “Jeez” he mimicked with a smile.

“It’s a good job James is so clueless, otherwise we definitely would have been caught when he discovered my necklace in the shower” Sirius commented.

James frowned “You know, I never realised how oblivious I was but god, I missed literally everything, didn’t I? Maybe it’s just because I’m super trusting Black and would never have believed that my best friend could lie to my face”. Sirius started at him blankly for a second before launching himself of the sofa and tackling his friend to the floor.

The team watched on in amusement while their teammates tussled on the floor, a tangled mess of limbs and the occasional groan as someone got a knee in the stomach or elbow in the rib. Eventually, Sirius rolled off and lay panting on the floor beside James who straightened his glasses. They lay silently before Sirius started laughing.

“Idiot” James shoved him before sitting up. Sirius didn’t move from the floor, other than to put his arms behind his head and lift his feet up onto the sofa next to Remus.

“Well, who’s turn is it to continue the story then, if you all know so much?” he asked with a chuckle.

Leo stretched out his leg, easily reaching Cap from his position of the sofa and kicked him gently on the elbow.

“I had chat with Loops afterwards, to check that he’d found his phone, you know” he smirked. “That’s when he asked about Lo and I suggested he should talk to him”.

Logan exhaled, “Shit, I didn’t realise since then Loops? I guess you’re not the only obvious ones ey?” he said with a half laugh.

“I first noticed at the Christmas party, your reaction to June and Finn was somewhat a giveaway. Not that I knew what it was about at the time”.

“He was watching carefully since then though, I was starting to get a little jealous that he was paying you so much attention” Sirius teased.

“Shut it, Black” Logan responded as Remus’ shook his head.

“Then I revealed my own secret to Loops” Leo said quietly, fiddling with his rainbow bracelet. “And he very nearly had a Sirius Black freak out that I had you two figured out”

“Well you told me we were good at hiding and no one else has noticed, clearly that wasn’t the case” gesturing around the room to his friends.

“I was right other than Lily and Dumo, and they don’t count. Lily’s your best friend and Dumo is practically Sirius’ father!”

“’Ey, I’m not quite that old, but I do have enough wise years under my belt to recognise when two people are crazy about each other. Or three people” he added with a knowing look at Logan.

Sirius had been staring between Leo and Remus throughout the whole conversation.

“You knew we weren’t the only ones since before Christmas!” he breathed out, eyes wide. 

Remus leaned off the sofa towards him. “You have no idea how much I wanted to tell you but…”

“Yeah I know, not your secret to tell but damn I wish I had known.” He reached out a hand to rest it on Leo’s ankle, the only part of the cubs that he could reach. “Always good to know we’re not alone, eh boys?” he finished with a smile.


	9. Part 9

“Christmas was pretty perfect with my family” Loops started, resting his hands on Sirius’ feet that were still propped up on the sofa next to him. “But I just wanted Sirius to be there. I needed that for it to be complete”.

“Sorry Loops, he was all ours this Christmas” Dumo smiled.

“Unfortunately” Logan snorted. Sirius said nothing but stretched over to grab him by the ankle and pulled him out of his seat. Logan landed on the floor with groan. “This is why you don’t deserve your own bed at Christmas” Sirius retorted with a laugh. Logan’s mouth opened but before he could respond Dumo interrupted.

“Settle down boys” The team chuckled at the sight of both Cap and Tremz sprawled on the floor getting reprimanded by Dumo. It was easy to see that they were a family of sorts.

“I know, and I’m glad he was with you guys. Your matching pyjamas were adorable” Remus continued, smiling.

“As soon as Sirius let me know he’d arrived at New Years I just wanted to force my family to bed. I couldn’t get rid of them fast enough” Loops laughed, feeling a little embarrassed at his eagerness. He continued, directing his next statement at his boyfriend.

“You know, my mum told me that night that I seemed happy. Happier than she’d seen me since before my accident.” Remus poked his foot into Sirius’s side, who sat up resting his weight on his elbows. “Because of you” Sirius just gazed lovingly up at his boyfriend. His eyes were wide and the smile on his face was bright.

The rest of the Lion looked on at the exchange silently. They were in awe of how well Cap and Loops worked together. Seeing them together like this, in their home, made them wonder how it had ever been any different. The change in Sirius had been slow since joining the team but since Loops, the difference was drastic. He was lighter, smiling easier, laughing quicker and almost everyone noticed; the team, the fans, the press. Loops’ change had been slower, harder to notice for most. He was already free with smiles and laughs but he too seemed lighter. His body relaxed with the team. His scrunched forehead which usually indicated overthinking appeared less often, the pink blush on his cheeks was rare now in casual conversation, unless the direct target of a joke. He felt that his place in this team and family had solidified now and he radiated confidence.

The Lions looked from their pair still gazing at each other across the room to meet eyes with each other. They all knew without speaking aloud that they were in agreement. This is what love looked like.

Regulus looked at his brother’s face, studying his bright open eyes and relaxed smile. It almost made him uneasy, this version of Sirius. He was happy for his brother of course; he deserved this, someone like Remus. But he couldn’t quite match this face with the hard, unhappy face from their childhood. He looked for familiar features; the downturned lips, rage flushed face, but saw nothing recognisable. This was someone different now, still his brother, but someone who was finally free to be himself and live his live on his own terms, with his chosen family. 

Regulus couldn’t bear the thoughts running through his head. Any longer and he thought he might start to tear up, partially out of joy for Sirius but also for his own longing. Instead, he coughed, breaking the spell that the room had been under and interrupting the intimate moment.

Sirius shook his head slightly and glanced at Regulus, raising his eyebrow at the interruption. Regulus shrugged in response, a smile creeping onto his face.

“So ignoring the obvious, how was your midnight rendezvous?” James asked, returning everyone’s focus back to the story.

“It was delightful thank you Prongs!” Sirius answered lightly, “We shared many New Year’s kisses and I reminded Loops here how fucking perfect he is…” Remus snorted “And we talked about the future. The two of us getting away somewhere this summer. Just being together.”

“That was when I realised. “ Loops added quietly “That I was in love with you”. Sirius sat up from his reclined position on the floor and immediately moved back to Remus. He kissed him softly “I love you” he whispered against Remus’ soft lips.

Remus shifted on the sofa so his back was leaning into the corner cushions. He pulled Sirius into his lap, wrapped his legs around his and intertwined them. Holding Sirius close against his chest he buried his nose in the crease of his boyfriend’s neck

“I love you too Pads”.

********

“I was so fucking excited for Florida” Sirius continued once he had settled comfortably into his new position. “The opportunity to see Loops without a shirt on and in a swimsuit! Mmm” he hummed contentedly “délicieux!”

“You see him naked all the time!” James exclaimed, frowning.

“Yeah but this is different because it’s in public and everyone gets to see him but I know that it’s all for me” Sirius countered enthusiastically.

“Wow, possessive much?” Remus whispered in an amused tone. Sirius pressed back against his chest, resting his head on Loops’ shoulder. “Only for you” he replied.

Turning back to the rest of the room Sirius continued “I definitely felt like I had some competition that week, everyone seemed to be all over Loops” he huffed, only half joking.

Remus laughed “You’re ridiculous”.

“What’s this?” Talker interjected “Who’s trying to get in between our favourite team couple?” looking around suspiciously.

“Hey!” objected Finn “Favourite team cou…” Talker cut him off quickly “Excuse me, are you a couple?” he asked raising an eyebrow at Finn, and then Leo and Logan “Well… no.”

“Then hush. Cap? Who’s causing problems – I’ll get them for you. No-one comes between our captain and his man” Thomas was waving his arms around wildly now, fists clenched. The teamed laughed at his antics.

Sirius enjoyed the light hearted attention. “Well first I had to endure Kasey asking Re to rub sun cream all over his back…”

Blizzard raised his eyebrows in shock. He had forgotten this and had most definitely not been expecting it to be him causing his captain to be jealous.

“And then I had to watch Remus actually rub it all over him while smirking at me. You even complimented how he did it Kase!” The team started laughing, first at the story and then at the put out expression on their Captains’ face.

Natalie laughed harder than anyone “Looks like I’ll be out of a job soon then Loops – fancy taking over permanently?”

“Non” Sirius answered shortly for Remus which caused the rest of the team to start laughing again. He stretched his arms up over his head, until they came to rest on the back on Remus’ neck. He pulled him down to their faces were side by side. “Mine”.

Remus’ fingers trailed along the line of skin, exposed by Sirius’ stretch, just above his sweatpants. Sirius shivered. “Don’t worry baby, I’ll never touch anyone the same way I touch you” he whispered into his ear. Sirius’ eyes fluttered closed.

“Excuse me” Regulus spluttered “We do not need any of that right now thank you, we have company.” 

“I’m coming for you Blizzard” Talker waved his hands again in Blizzards direction.

“Slow down there Thomas. You’re next on my shit list, putting Remus’ umbrella up for him. That’s my job.” Talker looked at his Captain with wide eyes. “Wha..?” Finn spluttered out a laugh and Lily rolled her eyes.

Regulus snorted and shook his head “You are ridiculous. You’re an actual child”. James joined in the mocking of his friend.

“I wish your fans saw this side of you, I don’t know if they’d still love you as much if they knew you were this much of a baby!”

Sirius huffed again, deeply unhappy that the team were ganging up on him without offering any sympathy. “Well its Remus’ fault, he was teasing!”

Remus rolled his eyes and smirked. “I knew that would wind you up. You know I wasn’t looking at anyone but you baby.” Sirius melted back into his arms.

“Really Cap, sun cream and umbrellas, is that all you’ve got?” Logan scoffed. “You know nothing about jealousy.”


	10. Part 10

_“Really Cap, sun cream and umbrellas, is that all you’ve got?” Logan scoffed. “You know nothing about jealousy”._

Remus looked over at Logan with a sad look in his eye. He thought back to the trip to Florida, and while it held fond memories for him and Sirius, he knew the same couldn’t necessarily be said for Logan.

He tilted his head slightly while still holding Logan’s gaze, a questioning eyebrow raised. He knew Logan had lots he could say about Florida but wasn’t sure if he felt comfortable sharing it with the team. The rest of the boys looked between the two, confusion on their faces as they watched the silent conversation take place.

Logan sighed and ran his hand through his hair, knocking his cap off.

“Alright then,” he said finally, “we can talk about our little discussion Loops’. After all, everyone else has had their turn to weigh in on your love story” he finished with a teasing smile. There were soft chuckles from the room as the team settled back into their seats to listen.

“It was while we were training in Florida, for the Tampa game.” Remus started “Sirius asked me to check on Logan because he seemed a bit…” He hesitated, unsure how to continue.

“Spaced out? Off his game? Whacked?” Logan suggested, his tone was light but there was tightness in his voice. Finn nudged him in objection and Leo laced his long fingers with his own.

“Something like that” Remus continued with a small smile

Logan took another deep breath before continuing, rushing as though to get it all said quickly. “I just...hate talking about how I’m feeling, my sisters try to make me talk all the time, and I just can’t. But Loops was so…” He waved his free hand around wildly “Loops about it all and I couldn’t help myself spilling to him as soon as we got to the PT room.” 

“I wouldn’t say that exactly, I thought I had to work quite hard to get you talking” Loops teased with a smile. Logan shot a tight one back and continued after a deep breath. 

“Things between Finn and I had been kind of complicated for a long time, ever since Harvard. I’d spent years telling myself I couldn’t be with him. That I couldn’t have him or love him. Because, well you know, hockey. But still, I was hurt after meeting June and so confused after nearly kissing Leo. And it just all came to a head in Florida. It got too much and I couldn’t take it anymore.” Logan paused to take a breath, “I completely lost it in front of Loops”.

The team looked at Logan with wide eyes. They had known before this, a little how Logan had felt, but it was something else to listen to him spill it all so openly. Even now, being content and happy with his boys, it was still unusual for him to share. No-one on the team had quite realised the extent of his internal struggle, not even Dumo. 

“You didn’t lose it” Remus countered softly, “You just needed to get it out and talk to someone.”

“I didn’t even mean to come out to Loops. That wasn’t my intention at all but I couldn’t help it. It all came spilling out. How I didn’t think I could love Finn, that the league wouldn’t allow it, what people would do if they knew. Of course, I never mentioned anyone by name.”

Logan was breathing heavily now, his voice laced with deep emotion. Leo’s fingers tightened against his, thumb rubbing circles against the back of his hand. Finn shifted in his seat so he was almost facing Logan while he spoke. His left hand landed and the base of his neck, fingers moving softly through his hair. His right hand landed on Logan’s thigh, pressing firmly into the soft material, as if grounding himself and reminding his boyfriend that he was right there.

“I couldn’t breath and I couldn’t talk, it was just so painful. It hurt so much” his breath hitched ad his voice cracked. Finn leant in and pressed his nose to his cheek, kissing him softly. 

“Loops tried to tell me that it was okay, but I didn’t believe him.” 

Remus spoke from the other sofa, “Not until I told him that I knew _exactly_ how he felt and that I was the same, when I was still playing and now.” He paused for a moment before smiling, “Never thought I’d be coming out to Logan Tremblay, the third member of the team to know about me”.

Logan smiled back at him, the mood lifted slightly by Loops’ comment. “I was completely speechless. I never expected that from you Remus, honestly. I couldn’t believe it, someone from the team.” He shook his head in disbelief and then his gaze dropped to Finn’s hand on his thigh. 

“And then Finn walked in” Remus continued with a grimace. Sirius put his hands in his hair in horror, mouth open slightly. There were groans from James and Kasey as they listened to Harzy’s unfortunately timing. “Damn Harz” Talker whispered.

“I’m still so fucking sorry that I didn’t lock the door Tremz”. Remus apologised.

“I’m not, after all it was probably the beginning of the push we all needed to sort ourselves out. Who knows how long it would have taken if he hadn’t walked in and seen the state I was in” Finns hands tightened on Logan’s thigh, but he said nothing.

“I thought you were going to fight me Harz. I’ve never seen you get that aggressive off the ice.” Finn sighed and turned towards Remus. His hands remained firmly attached to Logan, unwilling to let him go for even a second. 

“Honestly, I seriously thought about it when you wouldn’t let me into the room.” There were raised eyebrows from most of the team, unable to imagine Harzy fighting off the ice, especially not Loops.

“I definitely felt like punching something. But I saw what Lo looked like and I heard him sobbing and I just hoped that maybe you could help him more that I could.” Logan sniffed, bringing an arm up to cover his face as he leaned back into the cushions of the sofa. “It hurt, being shut out though, stuck on the wrong side of the door from you Lo.” Finn whispered softly so only Logan and Leo could hear him. Logan tilted his head towards the sound of Finn’s low voice. 

“I felt terrible, it was a complicated situation but I knew having Finn there wasn’t going to help, given he was the source of the... emotions. And when I said as much to Logan, I let slip that I knew it was about Finn”.

“And I had a Cap-like freak out” Logan finished.

“Hey, I don’t like that this has become a thing!” Sirius protested, trying to lighten the mood in the room.

Logan rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored him. “The thought that you knew and that other people might know just sent me into a slight panic. Should have known it was just Leo dropping me in it” He turned to mock glare at his boyfriend.

“Hey, I thought it would help, and I was right! All you needed was a good ol’ bit of Loops advice! God knows you weren’t listening to me or Finn!” Leo stuck his tongue out at Logan, reminding the team just how young he was.

“All I told you was that you just needed to talk to Finn. And Leo, I suppose, not that I knew about that part yet” 

“In my defense, when as that ever worked out for anyone before?” Logan asked. Remus and Sirius just looked at him, eyebrows raised.

“Well apart from you two.” Logan huffed “I didn’t even know about you then! How was I supposed to know?” The team shook their heads in exasperation.

“You know, I’m quite glad I was unaware of all of this going on” James decides, “I’m not sure I could handle all the drama. You guys,” he said, gesturing to Logan and Sirius “are disasters!” Sirius spluttered indignantly and turned to Loops for back up. His boyfriend just looked at him with an expression that clearly agreed.

Logan however, didn’t refute James’ statement but continued “I was desperate to know if Loops was with anyone. Partly for my own curiosity but also because you deserved it, man.” Remus blushed.

“And when you admitted you had someone but wouldn’t tell me anymore, I knew it had to be someone in the league but I just didn’t have a clue who! So I guess I can’t claim that I knew at any point.” He paused, “Never would have guessed it was you though Cap!” Sirius frowned, a slight pout appearing on his face.

Lily laughed at him from across the room. “Are you seriously upset because he didn’t know something that you had been desperately keeping from everyone?”

Sirius’ lips twitched at the pun but he ignored it this time “I’m upset that he didn’t automatically think of me when he imagined Loops’ with someone. Also that he might have been imagining Re with someone other than me. It feels wrong.”

“Well it does now!” Logan countered “But how was I supposed to know?”

Dumo shook his head in Logan’s direction “If you opened your eyes and paid attention you would know. He wasn’t exactly subtle” he countered, feeling exasperated at the cluelessness of both his boys.

“As we have established, I can’t even sort myself out. You think I have enough awareness to know what’s going on with Cap too? Who do you think I am?” He paused, gesturing wildly with his hands before turning to Cap. “Besides, with all the girls you seemed to have hanging on you…” He trailed off with a smirk

This time the pout appeared on Loops’ face as he shook his head firmly. “Nope, let’s move on now.”

“We could all tell things were tense before the Lightning game, Harz” Dumo continued, “What with the way you nearly bit Loops’ head off when he tried to offer you some advice.” Sirius frowned in Finn’s direction but otherwise kept quiet.

“Well I was still mad at him for not letting me speak to Logan earlier, and upset that I didn’t know exactly what was going on with Logan and honestly, I didn’t think Loop’s really understood the situation.” He paused briefly before chuckling softly “How wrong I was”.

“I really appreciated the offer of a chat though Loops, particularly after Alex’s casual comments hit me hard. I hated the thought of how long it had been since Lo had visited me at home.”

“I honestly thought it was going to be a battle to get you to talk to me too, but no. You just walked straight in and opened up.” Remus explained “He told me the whole situation from Harvard and everything with June. And everything Logan had said made sense after talking to Finn.” He stopped and gestured towards the third man on the sofa. Finn moved his hand from Logan’s neck to the cushion behind Leo, gently running his fingers through his hair.

“But then you mentioned Leo, just like Logan had and I was confused again. But I seemed to have said enough to help you so…” he trailed off before adding “Although I am glad you decided against cornering Logan on the bus!” Logan huffed out a laugh that was clearly in agreement. 

Remus paused the story, giving everyone a break and time to stretch their legs. More refreshments were offered around as the team moved from their various positions. The only players who stayed seated with Finn, Leo and Logan, who remained curled up in each other on the sofa, whispering soft reassurances and loving comforts to each other.


	11. Part 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: discussion of forced coming out (as in Sweater Weather by lumosinlove)

Once the cubs had relaxed their curled positions and spread out on the sofa again the team reconvened in the living room. Remus sat down on his sofa, as close to Sirius as he could get, resting his legs across his boyfriend’s lap, knees bent and resting gently against Sirius’ chest. Regulus joined them at the other end of the sofa, smiling softly at the sight of them curled up together.

Remus swallowed nervously, not particularly keen to retell this part of the story. Everyone knew what had happened, they had been there, but he decided that probably they all had things that needed to be said aloud. Sirius wrapped his arms around Loop’s legs and hugged. He smiled softly at him but Remus could see the pain in his eyes as he braced himself for the memories.

“When we got back to the airport from Florida…” Remus started, but he trailed off quickly uncertain how to continue or what to say.

Sirius exhaled forcefully and bent his head to rest on Loops’ knees. He spoke without moving, mouth muffled against the soft fabric of Remus’ tracksuit pants.

“I was texting Re when I first saw the messages.” His voiced wobbled at the end as he spoke. 

“Mon fils, we know what happened, you don’t have to…” Dumo started sympathetic expression on his face and concern in his eyes.

“Non, I know but I need to I think” Sirius replied from his frozen position. It wasn’t the memory of being outed that caused Sirius distress. He had worked through the fear and the anger long ago. And despite the hurt he had felt at the time, so much good had come of it since, just like Remus had predicted. _They were out and proud, and together_. It was the memory of the pain he’d caused Remus with his actions that really caused him misery. They’d talked it out long ago, and Remus had forgiven him _of course_. But that didn’t mean Sirius had forgotten himself, determined to spend every day with Remus making up for leaving.

Remus squeezed his hand. _I’m here_ it said. Sirius shoulders relaxed an imperceptible amount, and he continued. 

“I felt like someone had tipped a bucket of ice hold water over my head. I couldn’t breathe. My heart felt like it was being squeezed but at the same time like it was going to burst out of my chest. I felt like my legs were going to collapse if I tried to take a step.”

“Your face scared me the most. When you looked at me is was like you didn’t know me.” Remus added quietly, although the whole team could hear. There was absolute silence in the room as Sirius gripped Remus against him, so tight it was almost painful. He couldn’t let go, he needed Remus to know that he wasn’t letting go.

“The messages all over twitter, from fans… they were so awful” Sirius choked out.

James sat up straight “They’re not fans.” He pointed out firmly. “We don’t need or want fans like that.” Sirius smiled weakly at him while the rest of the players nodded in agreement.

“The hashtags people come up with though.” He shuddered “I guess people can be extremely creative when they hate something.” Lily scoffed, face set in anger, but she was clearly too incensed to say anything else aloud.

“It was everything I had ever feared, exactly why I’d spent my life pretending. We had tried to be so careful but…” Sirius shifted to rest his forehead on Loops’ knees. “The pictures” he moaned, shaking his head slightly. “That was private. Just for us. And someone took them and shared them and I just…” he released a shaky breath and his shoulders quivered with emotion. Remus squeezed his hand again, resting his free hand on the back of Sirius’ neck, thumb rubbing soft circles into the skin.

There was more silence from the team. Remus looked around the room, the expressions he saw on everyone’s faces ranged from concern to angry, he felt a sudden sense of pride for this team who loved and supported them both so unconditionally.

“I’m feel so angry for Captain. I’m not understand why!” Kuny raised his large hands and let them fall heavily onto the sofa beside him, brows furrowed and lips downturned in anger.   
“It’s okay Kuns” Nado soothed from next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder. Kuny’s outburst seemed to have opened the gates for the fury that the team had been harbouring.

“It’s not though!” Finn exclaimed, “How can someone justify acting that way, following them around in the middle of the night!”

“We should have known it was snake.” Talker spat out in disgust, “If I ever get my hands on that bastard…” he trailed off, clenching his fists.

“I’ll help” Kasey stated simply, staring at Sirius, whose face was still hidden from view.

“Same” James agreed. “et moi” Logan chimed in.

“It’s so wrong” Leo whispered, resting his cheek against Logan’s head.

“Yeah, it was” agreed Remus, still stroking Sirius’ neck “But it’s done now, and I would say things have worked out pretty well for us” He smiled at the team, and shook Sirius slightly “and not so well for them.”

Sirius raised his head to stare at his boyfriend in awe, still taken aback by his ability to take something positive from every situation. He smiled at him warmly. 

There was beat of silence as the room watched the exchange of soft smiles between the two, before it was broken by a gruff voice.

“That snake still better stay far far away from me, because if I see him anytime soon there is going to be hell to pay” Dumo stated plainly. There were yet more nods and grunts of agreement and Remus sighed in resignation. He knew that the protective instincts of the team were too strong to prevent them from having their back. But he had hoped that with the time that had passed, and the identity of the leak known to the world, that they would be able to move past it somehow. It was looking unlikely.

The revenge filled comments and furious faces faded into nothing and suddenly the team were sat in silence. As the emptiness stretched on, some of the players began shifting in their seats, as faces took on uncomfortable and concerned expressions.

Sirius sighed, he’d been expecting this. He’d not discussed his reaction to the news with anyone but Remus, if you don’t count Logan’s outburst, and he knew his friends and teammates had some strong opinions on how he’d handled the situation. He cleared his throat but still remained silent, unsure what to say, and not wanting to defend his choices, knowing the affect they had caused. Remus stilled beside him, making no move to speak, waiting to follow Sirius’ lead for how to approach the situation.

In the end, it was Logan who broke the silence.

“Well since we’re all thinking it, and I’ve already said it directly to Cap, I’ll go…” Logan began. He fixed Sirius with a hard stare and held his palms out questioningly “What the fuck?”

“Tremz!” James scowled, eyes flicking quickly to Sirius before settling back on the younger boy his face. Logan ignored him, waving his hand in Sirius’ direction.

“But…”

“Logan.” Dumo in a low voice, his tone warning.

“Ugh” groaned Sirius, pushing a hand through his thick curls. “I know, I know. I’m… sorry. That’s all. I can’t say any more than that. Not to you. But” His eyes glanced sideways at Loops. “he knows”.

He looked around at the team who were all watching him and Logan closely. Some looked concerned at the irritation in Logan’s voice and others were more worried for its effect on their Captain. But Sirius knew it came from a place of love. Logan cared about him and for Remus and knew what needed saying to get through to his Captain, just like he’d done before.

Kuny turned his gentle eyes from Cap towards Logan who was frowning at the floor. He didn’t say much in crowded situations like this, preferring to sit back, listen and take everything in. But that made the team listen more when he did speak. “Cap is scared. We run when scared. Not think” he glanced back at Sirius and his wide mouth twitched into a smile, like this was enough of an explanation.

“You’re right Kuns but that’s not an excuse. I should have thought. It wasn’t just about me. It was us. We were a team…but” he trailed off, settling back into Remus’ shoulder.

Logan wasn’t finished. “But you just turned your back.” He was aware he was pushing too hard now, and half of him wanted someone to stop him, but he couldn’t prevent the words escaping his mouth. “Did you even look to see his face?”

He was pretty certain his anger wasn’t entirely towards Sirius. Logan’s frustration at the situation was the result of years of hiding, of causing and being in pain due to not communicating with those he loved. He was furious that it had taken witnessing his team mates pain to make him see sense and do something about it. And he channeled those feelings towards Sirius, who sat there in silence and took them. 

The team were stunned into silence for a minute, shocked at the unexpected anger of Logan’s outburst. As he opened his mouth to continue, Remus leant forward and looked him straight in the eye. “That’s enough” he said firmly. Logan’s next words died in his throat as Remus stared him down, arm wrapped protectively around Sirius. Neither broke eye contact for the next minute, Remus waiting patiently for Tremzy to calm down, while stroking his fingers gently up and down Sirius’ side soothingly.

Finally satisfied that he had prevented the continued onslaught of anger, Loops sat back in his seat and spoke calmly, still looking at Logan. “Look, I know you weren’t there Logan, but I already told the others. It was different for me. I wasn’t hiding, I wasn’t terrified, and I was ready for people to know.” His eyes roamed the room, looking at each of them in turn.

“Nobody can predict how they would react in that situation and I hope nobody ever has to find out” he glanced at the Cubs, a Logan sandwich on the sofa, “because it is shit. But we all respond in different ways.” He took a deep breath “and all that matters is that we fixed it, together, and got to the right place eventually.”

Logan looked down at his hands, feeling guilty for the way he’d spoken out “Your right Loops, I’m sorry Cap, I didn’t mean to… I just”

“It’s okay Lo, I know” He pushed himself up, reluctantly, out of Remus’ arms and moved to stand in front of Logan’s sofa. “Come here” He held out a hand and pulled the short boy into a crushing hug. The two murmured apologies in French as the team, and their boyfriends watched on. Dumo chuckled as the boys embraced in the middle of the room.

“Quoi?” Sirius and Logan asked simultaneously, moving apart and turning to look at him.

“Just look at how far you’ve come ey?” he chuckled again gesturing around the room. “Who’d have ever thought it?”

Sirius glanced at his family, spread around the room, most had split off into smaller casual conversations, and the soft buzz of voices filling the house made Sirius smile. His gaze lingered at the sight of Regulus and Remus at opposite ends of the sofa, engaged in a relaxed conversation. Remus was gesturing wildly with his hands, causing Reg to tip back his head and laugh freely at whatever story he was telling. Sirius turned back to Dumo and laughed lightly. “Yeah, who’d have thought it indeed?”


	12. Part 12

“Did you get a chance to speak to Remus before the All-Stars?” came Regulus’ voice from the sofa beside Sirius. He looked at him surprised, not expecting him to show enough interest to ask questions. The rest of the team glanced in Sirius’ direction, already knowing he did nothing of the sort.

“Well, no not really.” Sirius hesitated. “We had a meeting with Arthur and Alice, but I didn’t stick around for long enough to actually speak to Remus. Just long enough to check no one was getting fired and then I kind of…”

“Freaked out?” Kasey prompted with a sly smirk causing Sirius to frown. “I was going to say ran away, but thank you for that”

“Wait hold up. Go back. Fired?” Thomas asked incredulously “You’re the all-star captain, they weren’t going to fire you!”

“I wasn’t so worried about me actually” Talker turned and looked at Loops in shock, his mouth parted slightly. The rest of the room straightened in attention.

“What?” James sat upright and looked at Remus, frowning. Finn sat forward, arms resting on his knees. “Excuse me. Who was going to fire you?”

“The league” Remus sighed, giving Sirius an exasperated look for bringing this up. “The league wanted me gone, and the organisation wasn’t particularly happy with me either.”

There were cries of outrage from all around the room. Dumo sat shaking his head unhappily and Nado and Kuny shared an angry glance in disbelief.

“What the fuck?” Logan spat out, running his hand through his hair “this fucking league, mon deiu”.

“Coach had my back though. He was fully on our side and he told the board how important I was to the team and as we were so close to playoffs I couldn’t leave.” Remus explained gently.

“We would have had your back too Loops” Leo reminded, on behalf of the team. “There’s no way we would have let that happen.”

“Thanks Knutty”

Logan was still incensed. “But they would have fired you otherwise? If it hadn’t impacted the team negatively? That’s such bullshit. You didn’t do anything wrong!”

“I’m an employee, Logan, with access to private information and a responsibility for player’s bodies…”

James spluttered “Excuse me? Did they say that?”

“Well,” Remus started “They didn’t directly accuse me of that but…”

“Yes. They did.” Sirius interjected “and it probably wasn’t helpful that you tried to take all the blame for the situation, as if I’m not an adult who makes my own decisions.” Remus merely shrugged in response.

James stood from his seat and began pacing the room. “I’m so angry, why are we only just hearing about this now?” He asked as he turned back to face the couple on the sofa.

“I kind of had other things on my mind more important than nearly getting fired” Remus replied dryly. “Guys, while I appreciate the support – I didn’t lose my job so we don’t need to worry”.

James rounded the back of his chair and slammed his hands down on the cushion. “That’s not the point though. There are several people I’m going to be having strong words with at the next team fundraiser”.

There was a pause while everyone relaxed their tensed shoulders and unclenched gritted teeth before Regulus spoke up tentatively.

“Wait? So after all that, you left without talking to him? Merde Sirius, what is wrong with you” he smacked Sirius lightly across the arm with the back of his hand. He shook his head “you had quite the week didn’t you?” Sirius scoffed in response, “you could say that”.

“Speaking of… Can we put the All-Stars on while we talk?” James asked with an enthusiastic smile on his face. Lily turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised.

“What, haven’t you had enough of hockey today?” she smirked knowingly at his offended expression.

“Hello, do you know who I am? Hockey is my life. Our life!” he gestured wildly around the room to the chuckles of his teammates.

“I wouldn’t mind putting it on. I was kind of distracted the first time around and I didn’t really take it all in” Remus admitted, smirking at his boyfriend. Finn was nodding from across the room.

“I certainly wouldn’t have any objections to re-watching” He agreed. “Or me”” Leo added with a smile.

“Reg? Is it alright with you?” Sirius prompted glancing sideways at his younger brother as James was already halfway across the room to set up the TV.

“Sure, it’ll be fun to watch it back with other people. I didn’t see any of it first time around after everything that happened”

James turned back towards the room with wide eyes. “Shit, I almost forgot all the other stuff that happened.” His eyes flickered to Remus. “I was just thinking about the hockey. Are you guys sure you’re okay to watch it?”

After receiving nods of accent from the Black brothers and Logan and an encouraging smile from Remus he moved towards the television to pull up the coverage of The All-Star Competition from months earlier. When he turned to return to his seat beside Lily, he found it occupied by Kasey, Natalie perched comfortably on his lap. James stood frowning at his goal tender, arms folded across his chest.

“Come on Pots, it’s my time on the sofa – it’s only fair” He argued with a winning smile. Jams relented, rolling his eyes and taking his place on the floor in the middle of the room.

As the coverage started Finn glanced over at Remus on the sofa with a smile.

“It’s just like last time, Loops” Eyes flickering around the room quickly, taking in the various friends sprawled across every surface.

“Oh yeah?” Loops threw back “Where are my taco’s then O’Hara?”

Finn guffawed “You don’t need the emotional support of tacos this time Loops, but we’ve got something even better” He curled an arm around Leo’s shoulder and pulled him close, squishing Logan firmly between them. Grumbles of “Harz!” came from below the tangle of arms but Finn just grinned. “I thought you liked being in the middle?” he murmured to the squirming man below him.

Remus smiled at the sight and gently wrapped his own arm around Sirius’ middle giving him a quick squeeze. “Definitely better than Taco’s” he whispered, to Sirius immense amusement.

“So you were all watching together then?” Sirius asked casually, relieved at the thought of Remus having so much company and support while recovering from the recent events and watching the drama of the competition.

“James and Lily were round with dinner” Remus replied, “The others all joined us later with an assortment of comforts.”

“I brought the booze and candy!” Kasey exclaimed happily. “and I brought face masks!” chimed in Natalie.

Finn grinned “I came with Tacos of course. And Leo.” He added as an afterthought.

“And then he ate all my ice cream. Some comfort you were!” Remus teased turning his attention back to the television just in time to watch Sirius step out of the car alongside Logan. James pressed a button on the remote and muted the sound.

“I think we can do without the nonsense commentary this time around, don’t you” he asked, raising an eyebrow at the team.

“I swear to god, I was so mad.” Natalie gritted out through clenched teeth “Those stupid commentators with their stereotypical bullshit.”

“I know. Besides, we all know there’s no way Sirius picked that suit out himself. Man’s got no style” Thomas spluttered out, biting his tongue to stop him from laughing. He lasted only a few seconds before catching the objection across Sirius’ outraged face.

“Damn Tremblay, look at that glare, you really hated us eh?” Regulus laughed. As everyone focused back on the footage, Remus spoke quietly to his boyfriend. “You did look excellent in that suit though baby”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, you know how much I love you in your game day outfits.”

“Better out of them though, right?” Sirius murmured back, shifting slightly in his seat.

Before he could hear a response, Sirius felt a sharp kick in his side from the opposite end of the sofa. He turned slowly; eyes narrowed but was met with Regulus looking pointedly at the TV avoiding his gaze.

“Problem?” he asked lowly.

“Don’t do that while I’m sat right here on the same sofa.” Regulus replied, eyes never moving from the images of themselves walking the red carpet. Sirius snickered but turned back to continue watching.

The image ahead faded into Remus’ old hockey tapes and the man sighed. “I never really considered they would talk about me. I was so focused on everything else”.

“I was furious when I watched it back. After your message, I was so angry.”

“C’est vrai, he was. I heard it through the hotel wall. I’m pretty sure he threw something.”

“Just everything they said about you, it was so wrong and unfair. It broke my heart to think you’d had to listen to it all. I’m glad you had everyone there though”.

“I was worried it was too much, us all being there. Especially Finn and I being together.” Leo commented.

“So many cuddles,” James exclaimed from the floor “It was adorable!”

“Urgh, I missed out on cuddles?!” Logan groaned “No fair. I missed out on so much being away”.

“You didn’t really miss out babe” Finn grinned wickedly “We kept you up to date with everything that was going on…” Leo turned in to face Logan too “And we more than made up for it when you got home” glancing at Finn with a smirk over the top of Logan’s head.

“Mon deui, you guys” Regulus groaned “You are too open. I know more than I ever needed to know about my brother and friends sex lives!”

“You better get used to it mon fils,” Dumo replied shaking his head “It doesn’t ever get any better.”

“You know Cap, one important fact we discovered through this is that Remus agrees with us.” Natalie smirked at Sirius and glanced at Lily.

“About what?” Sirius asked warily at the mischief in her eyes.

“That Crosby’s ass is the best in the league” Lily answered as James groaned in defeat. Sirius spluttered an objection “What? Remus! This is a betrayal. Best ass in the league?” 

Remus laughed, chest light. “I never said that exactly, maybe second best though?”

“As long as I’m in first place, I don’t care” Sirius huffed, crossing his arms to the amusement of the room.

They sat largely in silence as they watched Logan power through his interviews, one after the other. Firing back at the questions about Sirius without a single moment of hesitation or doubt, eyes and face firm in his support for his Captain.

“Merde, Tremz” Sirius whispered, his voice laced with emotion. “That was… I…” He trailed off, unable to form a full sentence that expressed his gratitude for Logan’s public words of support.

“You did an incredible job out there Logan” Lily praised softly.

“Oui mon fils, I’m so proud of you” Dumo added.

Logan smiled, “It was easy. Sirius is an amazing Captain and everything I said was the truth.”

“I don’t know how you managed to stay so calm and level headed. I think I might have exploded at all their stupid questions” Thomas stated.

“I wish I’d had a chance to thank him” Sirius said quietly, nodding at the screen and the first reporter to interview him. “I kept waiting for the questions and when they didn’t come I was so relived. I was incredibly grateful to him for keeping it so normal.”

“Shame about the next one then, wasn’t it” James murmured as the image changed and they watched the second interview that ended with Sirius leaving the red carpet alone.

“I couldn’t even form an answer at the time, I was so furious at the comment. ‘The first openly gay NHL player’ like what? In what world…?” Sirius huffed and ran a hand through his hair.

“I know baby, me too” Remus soothed but Sirius continued “I thought about it afterwards as I was heading back to the hotel, before I’d calmed down and of course I knew exactly what I wanted to say then. Didn’t get a chance though, which was probably for the best. I’d already made things difficult for myself.”

“So do it now.” Regulus said quietly, and several pairs of eyes flicked towards him suddenly.

“Huh? What?” Sirius questioned, taken aback and confused.

“Say it now” Regulus suggested again “You’re still angry about it, and you’ve just heard it again. What would you have said?” The room was silent, waiting for Sirius’ response, whether he would respond to Regulus’ prompting.

Sirius leant forward, clasping his hands together and looking at the television which was now silently playing interviews from some of the other attending All-Star players.

“I’m not.” He began tentatively, voice wobbling. “I’m not the first openly gay NHL player because I’m not openly gay. I didn’t get to choose. I didn’t get to tell my friends and family and teammates first. I didn’t get to come out. I was outed.” He paused for a breath and continued quickly, picking up pace. “I’d like to know what part of a private moment being photographed without my knowledge and shared without my consent sounds open to you?” Sirius frowned and glanced at his clenched fists, fingers white. “And now on top of all that shit that’s going on, I have to be here answering your stupid questions instead of being at home with my boyfriend which is where I should be right now.” When Sirius stopped speaking, his chest was rising rapidly with the emotion of his outburst. Nobody’s eyes moved from him as his gaze moved to the floor before he sunk back into the warmth of Remus’ embrace.

He took a deep breath and said with a half-smile, “Damn, I wish I’d said that at the time.”

There were scattered laughs and Kasey replied “I think we all wish you’d said that at the time. It would have been quite the sight to see.”


End file.
